The Wolff's Tale: Drewry's Bluff

This afternoon Amy and I drove out to Drewry's Bluff with her family. This area is part of the Richmond National Battlefield, which consists of many areas in and around Richmond, Virginia. Drewry's Bluff was an area along the James River fortified by the Confederates to keep Union vessels from coming further up the river.

We headed out there in the afternoon, the drive taking at least twenty minutes. The location was off the highway a ways, and we had to spot several signs to make sure that we made the right turns. There was no visitor's center (which was too bad since I enjoy those, but good since I'd forgotten my passport book in my car, ;-)). The parking lot consisted of three bus slots and just a handful of car parking spaces along with a sign warning that you could only park for one hour. There was one other car there when we arrived (and we passed the occupant on the path) and none had arrived by the time we left.

There was a sign at the trailhead and a holder that had brochures! I really enjoy the NPS brochures, and this one covered the entire Richmond National Battlefield. I must admit that I haven't read the whole brochure yet, but I do plan to read it soon!

The path isn't that long of a walk, but the weather was very nice and it was quite enjoyable. There was a fancy barrier to keep you from driving up the path, though of course it was easy enough to walk around.

I even took some video as we walked through the woods. The woods wouldn't have existed when the fort was in use, at least not between the fort and the river since they needed a clear path of fire.

Several helpful signs made sure that we didn't get lost. As explained by the NPS website, Drewry's Bluff was the key to the river defense of Richmond:

Drewry's Bluff, named for local landowner Captain Augustus H. Drewry, rose 90 feet above the water and commanded a sharp bend in the James River, making it a logical site for defensive fortifications. On March 17,1862, the men of Captain Drewry's Southside Artillery arrived at the bluff and began fortifying the area. They constructed earthworks, erected barracks, dug artillery emplacements, and mounted three large seacoast guns (one 10-inch Columbiad and two 8-inch Columbiads) in the fort. On May 9,1862, Norfolk fell to Union forces. The crew of the C.S.S. Virginia, forced to scuttle their vessel to prevent her capture, joined the Southside Artillery at Drewry's Bluff. Commander Ebeneezer Farrand supervised the defenses of the fort. He ordered numerous steamers, schooners, and sloops to be sunk as obstructions in the river beneath the bluff. Six more large guns occupied pits just upriver from the fort. Men worked around the clock to ensure a full state of readiness when the Union fleet arrived.

There were also interesting sights along the path including moss, logs, and tall trees.

Before we arrived at the site of the fort itself we saw a sign that explained the nature of the fort and where we were in relation to the fortification's location.

I couldn't resist a pictures of the sisters (and mom) walking along the path.

Apparently there used to be a chapel near to the fort, though nothing remains today. The sign even indicates that all of the remains in the adjoining cemetery were relocated. I thought it was interesting the sign sits where the steeple was located when the building was there.

Several gun emplacements were visible behind fences, though signs warned against climbing over any of the fences. I thought about throwing my sister-in-law over the fence, since nothing on the sign said that you couldn't throw anyone over. But it was pointed out to me that someone would have to climb over to throw her back onto the right side.

One of the fence sections had been recently reconstructed and a large woodpile next to it might have been the remnants of the trees used for the segments.

Once we walked into the fort area the paths split. We walked to the left and then eventually circled around to the right.

Little segments of moss and grass were especially cool and I tried several times to get good pictures. I think that a couple of them turned out nicely.

We climbed up to a platform that was built over part of the fort and overlooked the river.

Several signs on top of the platform explained the importance of the fort in guarding the approaches to Richmond. Since we spent some time looking around the platform and down the river I not only photographed the signs, I also took the time to read them.

One of the signs included an audio narration of the battle and I recorded some of the audio along with some views of the location. The audio quality isn't great, but at the end of the clip you can see the source of the audio in the post just to the right of the sign.

From the platform you could look over the area of the fort interior. Many features have been obscured with age, but some were still visible.

One gun emplacement did have a cannon in it (though very likely not original) and we took several pictures around it, especially since Amy had been photographed there when she was younger.

We weren't sure what the initials on the side of the gun meant, though there were jokes that it might be a less than serious BFF reference (i.e. not forever since it was just BF), ;-). At my father-in-law's suggestion I just ran an internet search for BF JLA and came up with a link to a website that may provide an answer:

Bellona Foundry: Cannon foundry near Richmond operated in 1819, and probably earlier, by Maj. John Clark who still owned the firm in 1836. Clark sold it later (probably in the early 1840s) to Dr. Junius L. Archer. Under both owners the company was a major supplier of weapons for the U.S. and state governments. Initials "B.F." will be found coupled with those of Clark, but in early weapons written "I.C." rather than "J.C." in the same manner as those of Gen. John Mason of Columbia Foundry (q.v.). Whether Clark shifted to "J," as did Mason, in the 1830s has not been determined. Weapons will be found marked "I.C. & Co. B.F." and "I.C.B.F." at least until 1830 and thereafter probably with "J" substituted for "I." After purchase by Archer, cannon were marked "J.L.A. B.F." Referenced from civilwarartillery.com, specifically the manufacturer's page.

I had fun taking several pictures of and around the canon, though a couple of the pictures weren't taken by me (you can tell this because I'm in the shot, and I didn't balance the camera anywhere to use the self-timer).

Rather that putting most of the gun-area photos here in the blog post I've simply included them in the full album that will be linked at the end of this post. I normally include pictures that are interesting, but either not ones I want to talk about or that weren't quite interesting to make it into the blog itself.

After leaving the platform we walked along a pathway for a while, and I took another video. It was very peaceful and you could hear birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees.

Several deep holes proved to not be wells or other excavations, but collapsed bomproof shelters.

I also photographed several other signs that explained several features of the fort, including a covered walkway and other finishing touches.

There was even a furnace that could have been used to heat up shot for firing at wooden vessels, but the sign explained that it was never used. By the time that guns were placed at Drewry's Bluff ironclads were quite common, a type of ship that rendered hot shot largely useless.